Kuala Lampur, Nov. 24 -- Japan's decision to deploy medium-range surface-to-air missiles to Yonaguni - a quiet island scarcely 110 kilometres from Taiwan - signals a strategic shift with implications far beyond Japan's immediate defence posture.

It confirms what regional observers have long feared: Asia's most dangerous flash point is no longer confined to the Taiwan Strait alone, but has expanded to include the southern reaches of Japan's island chain, where the security anxieties of Japan, China and Taiwan intersect with unprecedented intensity.

For Tokyo, the deployment is framed as necessary and defensive. Japan's Defence Minister has argued that strengthening the country's southern perimeter "lowers the chance of an armed attack", ...